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West Bengal: Meet the man who removes dead bodies from railway tracks

Karthikeyan Balaji, who works in the mechanical department of the South-Eastern railways, Kolkata, has removed dead bodies of at least 500 people from the railway tracks during his 30 years of service and attended to hundreds of sick people. Whenever there is a need, Balaji is just a call away.

Ei Samay | Sep 4, 2018, 14:09 IST

(This story originally appeared in on Sep 3 , 2018)

KOLKATA: Have you ever wondered how the trains run so smoothly in Kolkata even after so many accidents and deaths on the railway tracks?

Meet Karthikeyan Balaji, the fearless man who is there always to lend a helping hand in removing the dead bodies from the railway tracks or help the sick passengers.

Balaji, who works in the mechanical department of the South-Eastern railways, Kolkata, has removed dead bodies of at least 500 people from the railway tracks during his 30 years of service and attended to hundreds of sick people.

Whenever there is a need, Balaji is just a call away.

Sanjay Ghosh, CPRO of South-Eastern railways, while talking about Balaji said, "There are 21 station masters in Santragachi station. All of them have number of Balaji. Whenever they face any problem, be it night or day time, they call him and seek his help. Balaji comes to their rescue even if his duty hours are over by then."

Krishnendu Bhattacharyya, who has worked for almost 25 years as station master at Santragachi station while sharing his experience said, "It's the work of the crematorium workers to remove the dead bodies from the rail tracks. Unless they remove the bodies, trains can't start. After getting information from the police, they come to the accident spot. But if Balaji is informed, the work of removing a body is done instantly. The train passengers don't have to suffer delays because of him."

Balaji's goodwill has travelled far and wide and even the senior railway officials know his name, which is why during the recent Ganeswari rail accident, a seat was reserved for Balaji in the Accident Relief Medical Equipment Car.

Though all his colleagues are proud of him and talk about him proudly, the man himself doesn't like to speak much of his work. The railways has also awarded many accolades to Balaji.

While talking to Ei Samay, Balaji said, "I don't feel awkward to do my work. It's my duty as a human being to lend a helping hand to whoever needs me. When I see anybody with injuries lying on the platform, I can't control but help them."

As Balaji is retiring from the rail services in a year, when asked what will he do after that? Balaji simply replied, "I'm building a house near Santragachi station. Whenever the railway people need me, I'm just a call away."

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